At this juncture, Shaikh Paltu, while trying to defend the two Englishmen called upon the other sepoys to assist him. The wife of Captain William Halliday of the 56th B.N.I. For this, he was hanged on 8th April 1857. Mangal Pandey was an Indian soldier who played an important role in incidents prior to the uprising of 1857, known by different names like the ‘Indian Rebellion of 1857,’ the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ and ‘India’s First War of Independence.’ His name has become synonymous with the revolt of 1857. He joined the East India Company's army in 1849 at the age of 18. Mangal Pandey is one of the great freedom fighters and worked against the British rule during the Indian first freedom fight in 1857. [10], A Court of Enquiry was ordered which, after an investigation lasting nearly a month, recommended the disbanding of the 19th B.N.I. The vision and mission for a Free India | Image: File Image With Ranjit Sood, Ajit, Harbans Darshan M. Arora, Parveen Babi. Savarkar, who viewed his motive as one of the earliest manifestations of Indian Nationalism. [4], Some of the sepoys of the quarter-guard then advanced and struck at the two prostrate officers. The belief arose among the sepoys that the British had deliberately used the lard on the cartridges. [17], A park named Shaheed Mangal Pandey Maha Udyan has been set up at Barrackpore to commemorate the place where Pandey attacked British officers and was subsequently hanged. [6], The personal motivation behind Mangal Pandey's behaviour remains confused. During the incident itself he shouted to other sepoys: "come out – the Europeans are here"; "from biting these cartridges we shall become infidels" and "you sent me out here, why don't you follow me". The paper used in wrapping the cartridges was of a different colour, arousing suspicions. Born on July 19, 1827 in the village of Nagwa, district Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, Mangal Pandey was introduced to Indian history as the first freedom fighter and martyr of 1857. Some contemporary reports suggested that he was under the influence of drugs—possibly cannabis or opium—and was not fully aware of his actions. He backed away in one direction and Baugh and Hewson in another, while being struck with the butt ends of the guards' muskets. Sepoy Shaikh Paltu was promoted to havildar (sergeant) for his behavior on 29 March but he was murdered in an isolated part of the Barrackpore cantonment shortly before the regiment was disbanded. To this, the jemadar stated that his NCOs had gone for help and that he could not take Pandey by himself. Mangal sought to remove the shackles of poverty that surrounded his family. He was born on 19th July, 1827 in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, India. [16], The Government of India commemorated Pandey by issuing a postage stamp bearing his image on 5 October 1984. four weeks before (see below). Taking in the scene, he rode up to the guard, drew his pistol and ordered them to do their duty by seizing Mangal Pandey. A sepoy working under the British East India Company, Mangal Pandey’s name got etched into the pages of the Indian history after he attacked his senior British officers in an incident, which is today remembered as the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the India’s First War of Independence. He became the privatesoldier in the 5th Company of the 34thBe… The 19th B.N.I. It appeared that Pandey had acted without first taking other sepoys into his confidence but that antipathy towards their British officers within the regiment had led most of those present to act as spectators, rather than obey orders. He was a sepoy (infantryman) in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment of the British East India Company. He was a sepoy in the 34th regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry. He was admitted as an Indian soldier in the 34th Army team of Bengal East India Company, Bengal Native Infantry (BNI), Mangal Pandey was involved in the English East India Company to know about earlier incidents in Indian history and to attack British officers. Before Baugh could draw his sword, Pandey attacked him with a talwar (a heavy Indian sword) and closing with the adjutant, slashed Baugh on the shoulder and neck and brought him to the ground. He was from a high-caste Brahman landowning family that professed strong Hindu beliefs. [11], The attack by and punishment of Pandey is widely seen as the opening scene of what came to be known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The cartridge was thought to be greased with animal fat, primarily from cows and pigs, which could not be consumed by Hindus and Muslims respectively (the former a holy animal of the Hindus and the latter being abhorrent to Muslims). Pandey is an important influence on Samad's life and is repeatedly referenced and investigated by the novel's characters. A sepoy working under the British East India Company, Mangal Pandey’s name got etched into the pages of the Indian history after he attacked his senior British officers in an incident, which is today remembered as the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the India’s First War of Independence. Mangal Pandey (19 July 1827 – 8 April 1857) was an Indian soldier who played a key part in the events immediately preceding the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857. Mangal Pandey was born on July 19, 1827 in Nagwa village of Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh. Hisfather’s name was Divakar Pandey who was a peasant and his mother was AbhairaniPandey. History of Mangal Pandey: In the middle of 1850, he was posted in the Defense Forces of Barrackpore (Barrackpore). Mangal Pandey Biography. Mangal Pandey was born on July 19, 1827 in village Nagwa of district Ballia in Uttar Pradesh. Later Years. Mangal Pandey was arrested and sentenced to death after he attacked British officers in Barrackpore on March 29, 1857. Mangal Pandey was an Indian sepoy of the British East India Company. He then gets separated from his sister, Deepa, is adopted by a drug-dealer, Kulbhushan, who re-names him 'Tiger'; and then joins hands with … was known as a zealous Christian preacher. Research Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Baugh quickly disentangled himself and, seizing one of his pistols, advanced towards Pandey and fired. In 1984, the Indian government issued a postage stamp to remember him. It was rumored that people used cow or pig moss to make weapons smoother, which started to fall apart in Hindu and Muslim communities. He was sentenced to death by hanging, along with Jemadar Ishwari Prasad, after three Sikh members of the quarter-guard testified that the latter had ordered them not to arrest Pandey. [15], Samad Iqbal, a fictional descendant of Mangal Pandey, is a central character in Zadie Smith's debut novel White Teeth. Mangal Pandey, whose name is often preceded by Shaheed meaning a martyr in Hindi, was an Indian soldier during the pre-independence era. Pandey's reference to cartridges is usually attributed to a new type of bullet cartridge used in the Enfield P-53 rifle which was to be introduced in the Bengal Army that year. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. The play was organized by Sparsh, a theatre group, and presented in June 2005 at The Moving Theatre at Andhra Saraswat Parishad, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. While confronting Pandey, Hewson was knocked to the ground from behind by a blow from Pandey's musket. Both Colonel Mitchell of the 19th B.N.I. Mangal Pandey, (born July 19, 1827, Akbarpur, India—died April 8, 1857, Barrackpore), Indian soldier whose attack on British officers on March 29, 1857, was the first major incident of what came to be known as the Indian, or Sepoy, Mutiny (in India the uprising is often called the First War of Independence or other similar names). For the 2005 film, see, "Read Latest News, News Today, Breaking News, India News and Current News on Politics, Bollywood and Sports", Mangal Pandey Park, Amusement Parks / Auditoriums / Clubs, Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mangal_Pandey&oldid=992625956, Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, People executed by British India by hanging, Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh, Wikipedia pending changes protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 December 2020, at 07:49. He missed. Pandey inspired the Indian Mutiny (also called the Indian Rebellion of 1857, among other names) after rumours circulated that cow lard was used to grease rifle cartridges, which was repugnant to Hindus. Poverty had struck his family and there were mounting debts on his family became burdensome. When asked whether he had been under the influence of any substances, he stated steadfastly that he had mutinied on his own accord and that no other person had played any part in encouraging him. A commemorative postage stamp with his image on it was issued by the Indian government in 1984. The Indian troops thought that it was a deliberate act of the British in an attempt to defile their religions. [1], On the afternoon of 29 March 1857, Lieutenant Baugh, Adjutant of the 34th Bengal Native Infantry, then stationed at Barrackpore was informed that several men of his regiment were in an excited state. Further, it was reported to him that one of them, Mangal Pandey, was pacing in front of the regiment's guard room by the parade ground, armed with a loaded musket, calling upon the men to rebel and threatening to shoot the first European that he set eyes on. He played a major role in the revolt of 1857, or the First war of Independence. While he was posted at the garrison in Barrackpore in the mid-1850s, a new Enfield rifle was introduced into India that required a soldier to bite off the ends of greased cartridges in order to load the weapon. They then threatened Shaikh Paltu and ordered him to release Pandey, whom he had been vainly trying to hold back. Mangal Pandey was born on 19 July 1827 in Nagwa, a village of upperBallia district, Uttar Pradesh, in a Brahmin family. But his name would be immortalized in history. [9], The 19th B.N.I. Pandey then put the muzzle of the musket to his chest and discharged it by pressing the trigger with his foot. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Indian rebellion of 1857 was started over a rifle introduced to the sepoy armies. This was a direct derivation from the name of Mangal Pandey. Pandey was born in a town near Faizabad in what is now eastern Uttar Pradesh state in northern India, although some give his birth place as a small village near Lalitpur (in present-day southwestern Uttar Pradesh). Be it Kolkata intellectuals, the Mangal Pandey Suraksha Samiti in Uttar Pradesh [13], A film based on the sequence of events that led up to the mutiny entitled Mangal Pandey: The Rising starring Indian actor, Aamir Khan along with Rani Mukerji, Amisha Patel and Toby Stephens, directed by Ketan Mehta was released on 12 August 2005. The freedom fight in 1857 sparked the Indian Mutiny, also often called India ’ s mangal pandey history war Independence. 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